Improvement in paper boxes



y ZSheets-SheetzL E. De F. SHELT-ON.

P A P E R-B O X. No. 183,423'. Patented 0ct.1'1. 1876.

il! /P f @g3 J' 2- 4 ai 2. coRNELmsHELTom a" 7;

mem,

ATENT FddngrPaper Boxes.

l 5' 4 l f rg 7 7 f V91 L ff Wit/z awww', j@ yf/54,3

N.PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPNER, WASHINGTON, D. (I,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 De F. .SEBI-TON.

PAPER-Box. v No.183,423. A Patented yfm.. 17. 187s.

y Fifi Wil/zama.; Zin/wzlwf Mw @W7 Y JKM@- f 'UNTTED STATES PATENT EDWARD DE F. SHELTON, OF BIRMINGHAM, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO THOMAS L. CORNELL, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT-IN PAPER BOXES. y

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 183,423, dated October 17, 1876 application filed February 3, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, EDWARD DE F. SHEL- ToN, of Birmingham, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inthe Manufacture -of Paper Boxes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description thereof, that will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which forml a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l, Sheet I, shows a blank printed and grooved in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a perspective of the completed box; and Figs. 3 and 4, details showing the character of the grooves, and illustrating different ways of bending; Sheet Il, the unprinted and ridged side of the blank.

My invention relates to the manufacture of Manila-paper boxes; and has, primarily, for its object the saving of one, and that one of the most expensive operations in their manufacture, and the production on one machine, and by one act, of results which have hitherto in this branch of art required two operations and two separate machines, while at the same time I make a more finished, artistic, and sightly article, and at less cost, than those made by the old mode.

Hitherto, in making paper boxes from Manila paper, such as is now demanded for neat, strong boxes, adapted to hold articles frequently of considerable weight, such as tacks, 8vo., it has been customary to print that side of the paper which becomes the outer or exposed side of the box with business-cards, labels, 8vo. 5 but it has not been customary in and by the act of printing to indicate, in any way, the lines at which the paper is subsequently to be folded in order to form the box. When it has been desired to indicate such lines or to facilitate the folding, the paper or blank has been removed from the press, carried to another machine specially provided for the purpose, and laid thereon reversed- Vthat is, with its printed side downward-and then, the machine being put in operation, the linear depressions or creases were made on the unprinted surface, causing corresponding ridges or elevations on the opposite or printed surface. This method necessarily involved several serious disadvantages, which my invention avoids, among which may be named the following: the cost and use of two machines; the loss of time in transferring every blank from the printing-press to the creasingmachine; the need of accurately registering every blank similarly in both machines, in order to have the creases in the correct position and lines the turning over of every blank before creasing it; the liability of soiling its already printed surface, both by the handling and by its contact with the bed of the creaser; the impossibility of printing in black or other color the creasing-line, so that it would appear on the previously-printed surface, and where only it is needed the production of the swell or ridge on the wrong side of the paper for affordingthe best condition for the subsequent bending.

Now, in practicing my invention, I, by the same act and in the same press, give not only the required imprint of the business-card, &c., but also indicate and print, so that they shall be distinctly visible to the eye, the predetermined lines at which the blank is to be folded to form the angles or edges of the completed box, and also, by the same act and by the same press, make the desired grooves or creases on the printed side of the paper to facilitate the after-folding, the ridges or swells thus being, as they should be, on the under or nonprinted side of the paper, so as to come upon the inside of the completed box.

A reason why the comparatively thick Manila paper should have its. groove or crease on its outer or printed side, so that it may be bent against the ridge instead of against the groove, (aside from the advantages heretofore named,) is as follows: When bent against the groove-that is, so as to bring the groove at the inside of the right angle formed by two sides of the boxthe inclined faces of the a right angle with each other, come into con rrrc'ne tact and are forced against` each other Vlon g before the `paper becomes bent to the requisite `right angle, andthe consequence is a severe strain on the outer face of the paper at the ridge or angle; and if the paper` be quite thick,

or the bending be quickly or abruptly done, it is apt to beruptured. nWhen, `on the other hand, the paper is bentagainst the ridge, and with the crease on the outside, the eiect of the bending is simply to open the crease wider without any strain upon `thebers or texture;

ot' the paper, the action being very similar to the opening of the leaves of a book-coverjto- Ward its back.

The means by which I producethe above` important and economical results are as follows: I arrange in the printers form rules on all the. lines where the `bends `are `to be made to `form `the box, such rules being expressly made of .suiicient breadth `to project slightly above the face of` the type, so asto i insure a positive and predetermined groove or .bends are tobe made-say, lines 1.1, 2 2, 2 3, 4 4, 5 5,6 `6, 7 7,and 8 8-these lines being shown in the drawings in Fig. lin heavylines;

and I find it very convenient, `though notabso` lutely necessary,.to solder or connect together `.these rules,.so thatthey may be permanent t and alwaysready for use, simply requiring thesetting up of the type or of the electrotype y within` them, the type,as aboveV stated, not

reaching quiteas high as the rules; oran electroty-pe can be .taken4 of' theentireform of projecting rules and type, and the whole be `always ready without anychange'whatever.

Such form, so constructed, being'locked up in the chase and set in the press and pressure applied,1prints the folding lines, creases the same lines, andcreases them on theI printed side, all aswill be self-evident, at one operation, requiring no subsequent machine or operation, and `no skillful workman, no `nice manipula- `tion or careful adjustments, and no expense,

to produce the `printedand creased .folding-` lines. ,Theoperationis simpleand the econo- `myand result complete. The platen is provided with asemi-soft or compressible material, softhat the `rules .may sink slightly into such material, and permit the type `to do their proper duty of printing, notwithstandingtheir surface is slightly lower than the rules.

rlhe character of the depressions or grooves formed by this operation in the Manila paper is illustrated on a large scale in Fig. 3, in which a shows the grooves on the printed or Iouter side ofthe-blank, andlbthecorrespond- `ing ridges on thatsside, `which lbecomes the inner side of the completed box. In this ligure, c shows the position assumed by the grooveandthe ridge when the blank is bent to a right angle, as in forming the box, from which it will be seen that not only must the pared blanks) would hide withindthe box all Ythe printed 1lines and` other `printed matter.

In this gure,"d showshowthetsides oftthe groove tend to obstruct the bending to alright angle, and e indicates Where and how the pa- `penis aptto be strained beyond its capacity,

and hence to `be ruptured .along the line of bending. y y

I am aware that paper has been indented with teeth, `or perforated, t0 facilitate `tearing it apart, and that coarsestrawfboard or pasteboard has been partially severed to facilitate its bending; these, therefore, "I do not claim. Nor do I claim the `printing of paperonone side and creasing` it onzits oppositeW side; nor the bending of paper in a direction againsta crease `orgroove formed therein;` I do not herein claim any improvementin the art of making coupon-tickets or similar articles,lor in the manufacture ofenvelopes, intendingto limit myself in this application to my improvement in thick-paper boxes, and `to my new method of producing thesame.`

I claim- A Manila or equivalent .paper box-blank, printedand creased on the same `side ofthe blank, and having printed lines in the dc-` pressions or creases, which indicateand .facili tate the linesfor bendingand also` give a iinish to the` bended edges, all substantiallytas` shown `and described.

`In testimony that I claim `the foregoingI 

